The Power Within
by Music is the Song of Life
Summary: In a world where mutants remain incognito, it's hard to play a neutral party. Between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, one Bayville student struggles between sickness and health, right and wrong, and friends and love. How far is she willing to push herself in order to keep her humanity and to keep her powers a secret?
1. Finding Help

**So here;s the X-Men story I've been mulling over for a while now. I'll just leave it at that and let y'all read on. Before that though, Amèlie's name is pronounced _(A-MEEL-YAY)._ Her nickname, Amie, which is not used in this chapter is pronounced _(A-MEE)_ and finally Benevuis is _(BEN-AY-VOO)_. Happy reading!**

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The crisp autumn air blew several brittle leaves down the street. The entire night seemed eerily still, like it had all set into slow motion to match the feelings in the house. Christian Benevuis stood with his wife in front of the large window which looked into the family dining room. Both had been a whirlwind of emotions over the past few weeks, and neither knew what else to do. No matter what treatments they tried, their young daughter's 'condition' only seemed to get worse.

Amèlie, the Benevuis' youngest daughter, was only six years old when her pediatrician diagnosed her with X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia or XLA, an immunodeficiency which caused her body to not produced an adequate amount of antibodies to fight the diseases her body contracted. Over the next three years, young Amèlie had contracted several diseases long unseen in the Bayville, New York area. Her parents could not help but worry.

"We've exhausted every other option dear," Christian began, holding his wife closer, "We have no other choice."

Jocelyn looked up into her husband's eyes, which reflected the same sadness as her own. She wiped the remaining tear stains from her face as she turned to look out the window toward the Eastern horizon. At the very edge it seemed, there stood a large building along a cliff, which belonged to a Professor of sorts, who had approached the Benevuis several years ago, saying he could address young Amèlie's infirmity before it got out of control. It seemed their decision to not get their daughter help before things had progressed to the seeming point of no return had come back to haunt the Benevuis.

"Make the call Christian," Jocelyn said simply with a heavy French accent, "I can't stand to see Amèlie this way anymore."

Christian nodded and went into the next room. As Jocelyn remained frozen in place, she could faintly make out Christian's voice speaking frantically on the phone. Jocelyn ran her hand through her hair, which remained slightly disheveled from dealing with Amèlie the night before. Jocelyn had never seen a child so sick.

As Jocelyn's mind wandered to the impending fate of her younger daughter; Estelle, the Benevuis' elder daughter, newly turned 16 wandered down the stairs into the foyer. Her eyes held the same dismal look as her parents, coupled with dark circles from the lack of sleep that came with attending school and afterschool activities and caring for a dreadfully sick sister.

« Maman, pourquoi est-Amélie si malade? Et pourquoi ne sont pas le médecin fait rien pour l'aider? » (Mama, why is Amelie so sick? And why aren't the doctors doing anything to help her?) Estelle questioned her mother, eyes full of worry.

Jocelyn didn't know how to answer her daughter. Amèlie had been sick for what seemed like lifetimes, and they were all on edge and hoping for anyone to offer help.

«Estelle, ma chérie, il ya plus à Amélie que les médecins sont en mesure de guérir. » (Estelle, my darling, there is more to Amèlie than the doctors are able to heal.)

«Mais que dire de ce professeur Xavier? Il semble plus disposé à aider que notre propre médecin. » (But what about this Professor Xavier? He seems more willing to help than our own physician.)

«Estelle, il ya plus à ce que vous comprenez. » (Estelle, there is more to this than you understand.)

Estelle's body visibly tensed as she started at her mother, fists clenched angrily at her sides. Her eyes became fiery and she could feel the anger building inside of her.

«Oh, je comprends très bien. Les gens ont peur de ce qu'ils ne comprennent pas! » (Oh, I understand just fine. People fear that which they don't understand!)

Jocelyn's eyes widened at Estelle's sudden change in tone, and then narrowed as she herself became frustrated with the entire situation

«Ne parlez pas de cette façon! Je ne le supporteraient pas. » (Don't talk that way! I will not stand for it.)

Jocelyn's voice wavered as the sadness that she felt threatened to take over. Estelle noted the tears forming in her mother's eyes and her entire body relaxed as Estelle realized how upset she had made her mother.

«Je suis désolé maman. C'est juste que ... Amélie, elle est si malade. » (I'm sorry mother. It's just...Amélie, she is so sick.)

A couple of tears rolled down Jocelyn's face. She wiped the remaining tears away before she again began speaking to Estelle.

«Je sais Estelle. Mais, nous devons faire cause jusqu'à ce professeur Xavier est capable d'arriver. » (I know Estelle. But, we must make due until Professor Xavier is able to arrive.)

Estelle's own eyes became watery and she stared at her feet as she replied to her mother.

«Je viens de ... J'espère qu'elle ira bien» (I just ... I hope she'll be okay)

Jocelyn's expression softened as she noticed the tears dot the corners of her daughter's eyes.

«Nous faisons tous plus chers. Maintenant, je veux que vous alliez au lit. Vous l'air épuisé. » (We all do dearest. Now I want you to go to bed. You look exhausted.)

Estelle wiped her face clear of the tears and turned to begin her ascent of the stairs.

«Oui maman» (Yes mom.)

«Bonne nuit Estelle» (Goodnight Estelle) Jocelyn addressed her daughter before she saw her reach the top of the stairs.

«Bonne nuit» (Good night) With that, Estelle disappeared down the hallway, retreating to her own bed for the remainder of the night. Jocelyn exhaled a breath of frustration and began to once again run her hands through her hair as her husband came back into the front living room, having just gotten off the phone.

«Quel était-il exactement? » (What was that all about?) He asked as his wife glanced up into his eyes which were full of concern.

"Everything's fine Christian," Jocelyn stated, the exhaustion beginning to show more on her face, "I just want this whole thing to blow over."

With that, she walked forward into her husband's arms, which he instinctively wrapped around her and held her close.

"I know _Cherie_. I know." Christian simply stood there holding his wife, as he once again glanced outside the large window and saw three shadowy figures, one very distinctly in a wheelchair, at the front gate of the old Victorian house.

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**I have a serious problem. I keep getting these bad writing bugs. For everything. Except my already posted stories. So, here's another product of the mosquito that is my muse. **

**I realize that much of the French dialogue and grammar is probably wrong. It has been a while since I have been enrolled in a course and (as of now) I do not have a beta reader who is fluent in the language. So this will do. For now. **

**Well, leave some reviews, let me know what you think. Thanks lovelies!**


	2. Mall Antics

Amèlie Benevuis shot up in her bed and looked around frantically, when she finally spotted her cell phone which had fallen onto the floor while she had been asleep. She picked it up and looked at the screen to see that she had missed two calls while she'd been asleep. In reality, it had probably been the ringer that had woken her in the first place. She looked at the call and saw that one call had been from Kurt Wagner, one of Amèlie's close friends; the other was from Ororo Munroe, a teacher at the Xavier Institute, who was probably calling to tell Amèlie about her meds.

Amèlie rolled over and ran her hand through her hair, before sitting up and throwing her legs over the bed. As she did so, she disturbed the sleeping mass next to her, which happened to be Amèlie's young tabby, Wichita. Amèlie patted the cat between the ears before she continued in her routine.

As she stood and made her way into her bathroom, she quickly assessed her appearance. Her jet black hair was a messy tuft that usually fell to just below her shoulders. She'd have to shower to put it back to its proper state. Her eyes shone like emeralds, despite their tired appearance. She splashed some cold water on her face to waken herself. As she wiped the excess from her face, she again assessed herself in the mirror. Her lightly tanned European skin was now glowing like one usually does after a summer in the sun. She loved that about herself. Her skin always looked tanned, even in the winter when most of her friends became pale as the snow itself.

Amèlie quickly jumped in the shower and washed the sleep and tired appearance from her body. As she stepped out into the steamy bathroom, she wrapped herself in a deep magenta colored towel and then made her way back to the vanity. She wiped some of the fog away from the mirror and began to reset her hair. As she opened the door to air out the steam, Amèlie walked into her room and into her closet. She pulled down a white cap sleeve t-shirt and a black corset vest, her usual attire. She grabbed a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a pair of red flats and laid the shoes by her bedroom door before making her way back into her bathroom. The steam had dissipated enough, that she pulled out her usual makeup, black eyeliner and mascara and quickly applied the usual amount. She then pulled the shirt over her head, careful to avoid her still wet hair. She quickly pulled the jeans on and continued on with her usual practice.

Amèlie pulled her hairdryer out of one of the nearby drawers and plugged it in and dried her hair fully before continuing on to any other part of her schedule. As soon as her hair was dry, she pulled the vest on over the shirt and buttoned it. She then applied to last of her makeup: a nice red lipstick that she absolutely adored. Amèlie gave herself one final once over before running out of the bathroom with a smile. She grabbed her flats and slipped them on before grabbing her small, red side bag from the back on her bedroom door and her phone from its new place on her desk, and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Jocelyn Benevuis was at the stove, finishing up a batch of crepes and blueberry sauce as her youngest daughter wandered into the kitchen. Amèlie sat down at the breakfast bar and watched as her mother placed a plate in front of her. Amèlie loved crepes, almost as much as she loved honeyed fruit salad. She ate her breakfast quickly and then proceeded to make her way toward the door. Her mother cut the journey short however.

"And where are we off to today?" Amèlie turned back toward her mother before she began.

"I'm supposed to go out with Kurt to the mall today mom," Amèlie knew exactly where this conversation was going, "And no mother, we're not on a date."

"Can't blame me for being curious," Jocelyn began, laughter etching on her face, "Kurt's a very sweet boy, and I think he'd be good for you Amèlie." It was Amèlie's turn to laugh. She loved Kurt, but she knew that they were destined to remain friends, no matter what anyone else said. She valued his friendship too dearly to jeopardize it for a slight feeling of attraction.

"Mom, Kurt is just a friend. And shall remain as such." Amèlie's smile lingered, but her mother knew that she was serious behind it.

"Okay. Have fun dear," Jocelyn went back to cleaning up the kitchen, then quickly whipped back around to address her daughter again, "Do you have work tonight?"

Amèlie pulled out her phone and checked the calendar.

"Yeah, I work from 4 until 10. I'm closing too."

"Well I expect you late then. Be careful," Jocelyn approved of Amèlie's getting a job, but not of the times she usually worked.

"Always am," With that Amèlie was out the door, «Je t'aime maman »

«Je t'aime trop cher. »

With that, Amèlie closed the door and pulled the keys to her Audi A4 out of her purse. She made her way down the driveway to the driver's side door and got into the silver automobile. She double checked her mirrors before putting on her seatbelt and cranking the engine. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Kurt's number before putting the phone to her ear. It began to ring. Amèlie checked her nails. She noticed a small chip in the red paint on her right index finger. The phone rang two more times before Amèlie noticed a very minute click.

"Hello to ze most beautiful friend in ze whole vorld." Amèlie could not help but giggle at her Kurt's ridiculous flattery.

"What did you do now Kurt?" The two friends laughed before Amèlie continued, "So, I'm about to leave my house. I'll meet you outside the mansion."

"Zounds good jya," came Kurt's response in his heavy German accent.

"Oh Kurt, before I forget," Amèlie quickly added, to keep Kurt from hanging up the phone, "Get my medicine from Ororo and bring it out to me. I missed a call from her this morning and they're probably ready for pickup."

"Vill do. Vell, I'll see jya."

"That you will. Goodbye."

"Bye," with that Amèlie hung up her phone and tossed it into the cupholder before shifting her A4 into reverse and pulling out of the driveway. The A4 was a stick shift, and it had taken Amèlie over a year to master it, but she was now more comfortable in a manual car than an automatic. She shifted the car into first and started off for the mansion. As she drove down the long road up to the cliff she passed the downtown area of Bayville and spotted the store where she worked, a small retail store called A Touch of Paris. They sold everything Parisian, from the latest fashion trends to accessories to small décor. The perfect place for a French descendent to find work. Amèlie loved it there.

She continued driving and made her way into the small residential area around the mansion. As she made the turn onto the familiar street, Amèlie passed the Brotherhood Boarding House, which was home to the X-Men's resident rivals. Truth be told, she had no problem with the Brotherhood boys. In fact, Amèlie had befriended them all, much to the dismay of her friends.

Amèlie pulled up to the mansion gates and waited patiently. No sooner had she opened the windows and shifted the car into park did she hear the familiar BAMF sound and Kurt appeared in the passenger seat beside her.

"Amèlie! Oh how I have missed jyou!"

"I just saw you yesterday at school you ridiculous fuzzball," Amèlie said as she laughed at her blue haired friend. Kurt was a very unique individual. He was actually covered in blue fur, and he had a tail. But Professor Xavier, the man who owned the mansion and ran the home within, had invented an image inducer, which made him look like a normal teenager. This was the same man who had invented a temporary cure for Amèlie's XLA immunodeficiency. He truly was an outstanding individual.

That reminded Amèlie…

"So, did you get my meds?"

"Jyes, I did," Kurt said as he dangled a small paper bag in front of Amèlie's face, "And Storm said to not vait until ze last minute next time."

"Well you be sure to let her know I won't," Amèlie began as she quickly opened one of the bottles and took two of the pills, as was prescribed, "I could feel my body starting to shut down. Good thing I've learned to hide it from my mom."

Amèlie could feel the medicine coursing through her veins, and her body felt instantly rejuvenated. She had forgotten to call ahead for her meds and had been off them for about a week. Her body had actually built a slight natural immunity over the years, but that would have worn out within the next couple of days. It would have been like when she was young.

Amèlie shook her head clear of the previous thoughts. She refused to think about those times, when she would get so sick she couldn't get out of bed. Definitely the forerunner for worst childhood ever.

Pushing the pedal to the floor, Amèlie cheered as she and Kurt took off in her silver Audi toward the Bayville mall. Driving along the rural back roads did a lot to soothe her mind, and riding along with Kurt was one of her favorite people top hang out with. He had moved to Bayville almost a year ago and he and Amèlie had become fast friends. She wasn't sure why. But she found great friendship in him, and he in her. They were two peas of the same pod.

"So, Aime," Kurt began, using Amèlie's much easier to pronounce nickname, "Have jyou thought anymore about ze Professor's offer?"

Amèlie sighed and looked empathetically at Kurt. A light smile graced her face, yet conflict raged in her eyes.

"I've already told the Professor, I will not choose a side," Amèlie resolved, "I will remain neutral in the whole issue."

"But vat if ve need jyou?" Kurt pleaded with his friend, "I don't vant to fight alone."

Amèlie smiled at her friend's dramatic tone. He could be quite a handful sometimes.

"My decision is final Kurt. I will not become an X-Men," she continued, "I have just come to terms with how my mutation works. I'm not gonna jeopardize anything by 'picking a side.'"

With that, Kurt dropped the subject and quickly changed topics.

"Vell ve should stop by zat voderful burger stand. I am so very hungry!"

Amèlie shook her head and smiled. Kurt was, after all, the Iron Stomach.

"Fine. Fine! You big fuzzball," Amèlie stated, laughing all the while, "I'll get you your burger."

The young mutant teens entered the Bayville Mall and browsed through several little shops before finally settling on a small bench in tue center of the mall, while Kurt finished his fourth cheeseburger.

"Sometimes, watching you eat causes me physical pain," Amèlie remarked as Kurt began slurping down the last of his soda.

"Tis not my fault, jya. I am a growing boy," Kurt replied, indicating his nonexisting stomach which Amèlie slapped. Hard.

"Owww! Zat hurt!" Kurt yelled, feighning severe injury.

"_Taire_ and come on fuzzball. I've only got a few hours before work."

In the local music store, Amèlie had taken to perusing through several albums of current music. Her blue haired friend, had taken to embarrassing himself by dancing around the store with blaring music and headphones. Amèlie laughed as he tripped over a nearby display and fell, with cds tumbling to the ground.

The sudden gust of wind was the first thing to catch Amèlie's attention. The unmistakable streak of white was all she needed to determine that this was not going to be a pleasant experience.

"Uh oh..."

A slender boy, with white hair and pale skin came to a halt in front of Amèlie. His height was greater than hers, though not too excessively, but he abused the fact greatly, looking down at the young French-American girl.

"So the X-Geeks are taking a vacation from the piteous task of being losers."

Pietro Maximoff, the teenage leader of The Brotherhood, was nothing more than a common bully, especially to the X-Men. But he had taken a weird liking to Amèlie and tended to harass her at any point available, including when she was out with Kurt. Who didn't like Pietro. At all. This was gonna be one of those days.

"What's wrong fuzzball?" Pietro addressed Kurt, who was still entangled in the store display, "Couldn't decide which one you wanted?"

Kurt, becoming visibly angrier b the second, growled at Pietro, who then returned his attention to Amèlie.

"How's it going Frenchie? Find anything you like?"

Amèlie, all too familiar with Pietro's method of flirting, turned her attention from Kurt to Quicksilver. Je continued to thumb through the albums, almost automatically.

"If you are making a reference to yourself Maximoff, then no," Amèlie's wit was quick with Pietro, mostly from weeks of practice, "I have, however, taken quite a liking to many of these cds. Interested?"

"Not really sweet cheeks, but thanks."

Kurt, having dug himself out of the massive pile of albums, approached Pietro. His face was furious, but he remained calm, mostly for Amèlie's sake. He knew how much she hated confrontation, and she had friends on both side. Which, unfortunately, included Pietro.

"How about jyou leave it alone, jya?"

"Oh and what's wrong blue monkey? Afraid I'll-" Pietro sped to Kurt's other side, "Steal your girl?"

Kurt, now infuriated, swung at Pietro, who very obviously had sped off. Kurt recoiled just in time to see Pietro appear behind Amèlie and place a kiss on her cheek. Her face flushed rapidly and she brought her hand to her inflamed cheek as the speed demon took off to meet with the other members of the Brotherhood, who were all laughing hysterically at the music store's entrance. With a flick of his hand, Pietro waved goodbye to Amèlie and vanished into the crowds of the mall with the rest of the Brotherhood Boys. Kurt, who was seething over the whole ordeal, approached Amèlie to inspect her for any injuries.

"Are you alright Amie? He didn't hurt jyou, did he?"

Amèlie rolled her eyes. Sometimes, the rivalry between the X-Men and the Brotherhood irritated her, but Kurt's blatant jealousy and anger over one particular individual irked her all the more.

"I'm fine Kurt, really," she resolved, seeing Kurt's doubt. The blush had just now crept from her face but she could still feel the heat from where his lips touched flesh. Pietro had always been daring, but never enough to pull something that, well, blatant in front of Kurt.

Kurt, not quite convinced, decided to push the issue just a little farther.

"Are jyou sure?"

"Can we just drop it, yeah?" Amèlie, now beyond irritated, spat at Kurt. She hated being angry with him, but she hated being stuck in the middle of this ridiculous rivalry.

"Anyway, let's go. I've got what I need," she finished, brandishing a few discs in her hand. After paying for her new music, Amèlie and Kurt took to simply window shopping. It was a little past lunch time and the people traffic had picked up exponentially. She even noticed more of the X-Men had showed up, including Katherine Pryde, another of Amèlie's very close friends.

"Oh my god, Amèlie! What are you doing here you weirdo?" Amèlie laughed at Kitty's remark and walked up and hugged her friend, glad to see a 'friendly,' familiar face. At least this would distract Kurt for a little while. As Amèlie stood with Kitty and Kurt and the other X-Men, all talking and laughing, she glanced over her shoulder and saw the one and only Pietro Maximoff who looked directly at her. She made eye contact with him and shook her head. And smiled.

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**Another chapter to my new found glory. And I will be starting another new story later as well. I've told you, I have a problem. Anyway, hopefully next chapter I can reveal Amèlie's glorious power. I think everyone will be interested in that. :) **

**_Taire_**** means ****_Silence_**** in French. It also applies to ****_Shut up_****! in some cases. Just depends. Anyway, reviews are forever lovely. Also check out the poll on my profile. It could help your favorite story get updated faster. **

**Peace lovelies! **


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